Hate to say it but if I were stafford id probably wouldnt restructure either.. I would want to see whats going to happen.. mean shoot there is no OL atm. i know id be pretty scared about my well being.. But im sure alot of you will think different because we are not in his shoes. Change is just not happening since stafford got here. the staff/ Fo is just not getting it done...why should stafford have to continue to bail them out? what about Suh's crazy contract..

he has to look out for his future too. if i were him i couldn't think of any reason to want too. id ride my contract out.. go to a team that knows wth their doing. im embarras to even have to read about this crap being a Lions fan.. no way tho am i mad at stafford if he dont.

Hate to say it but if I were stafford id probably wouldnt restructure either.. I would want to see whats going to happen.. mean shoot there is no OL atm. i know id be pretty scared about my well being.. But im sure alot of you will think different because we are not in his shoes. Change is just not happening since stafford got here. the staff/ Fo is just not getting it done...why should stafford have to continue to bail them out? what about Suh's crazy contract..

he has to look out for his future too. if i were him i couldn't think of any reason to want too. id ride my contract out.. go to a team that knows wth their doing. im embarras to even have to read about this crap being a Lions fan.. no way tho am i mad at stafford if he dont.

I ain't mad at him, but if he's gonna cripple our cap then he should prove he's worth it. Take Calvin and Mike Thomas, plus that OL and put up all-pro numbers.

I'll use what little money and draft picks we have to find the other 8 starters we're short on defense._________________Oh no, we suck again
- Calvin's out

Hate to say it but if I were stafford id probably wouldnt restructure either.. I would want to see whats going to happen.. mean shoot there is no OL atm. i know id be pretty scared about my well being.. But im sure alot of you will think different because we are not in his shoes. Change is just not happening since stafford got here. the staff/ Fo is just not getting it done...why should stafford have to continue to bail them out? what about Suh's crazy contract..

he has to look out for his future too. if i were him i couldn't think of any reason to want too. id ride my contract out.. go to a team that knows wth their doing. im embarras to even have to read about this crap being a Lions fan.. no way tho am i mad at stafford if he dont.

I ain't mad at him, but if he's gonna cripple our cap then he should prove he's worth it. Take Calvin and Mike Thomas, plus that OL and put up all-pro numbers.

I'll use what little money and draft picks we have to find the other 8 starters we're short on defense.

prove it. i think he did. he kept us close in alot of games with no bodies. i agree lets not baby him but man you gotta look at the state of the OL. i agree we shouldnt be spending money on skilled positions. Ol and defence i think he'd feel better. he an no idiot im sure and see how i feel about this whole staff to an extent..

Hate to say it but if I were stafford id probably wouldnt restructure either.. I would want to see whats going to happen.. mean shoot there is no OL atm. i know id be pretty scared about my well being.. But im sure alot of you will think different because we are not in his shoes. Change is just not happening since stafford got here. the staff/ Fo is just not getting it done...why should stafford have to continue to bail them out? what about Suh's crazy contract..

he has to look out for his future too. if i were him i couldn't think of any reason to want too. id ride my contract out.. go to a team that knows wth their doing. im embarras to even have to read about this crap being a Lions fan.. no way tho am i mad at stafford if he dont.

The only reason Stafford would not want an extension is if he hates it here and is intent on bailing after his contract is up. All he can do is guarantee himself more money--he is not taking a pay cut, although a new deal can lower his cap number because he has already received much of his allotted 2013 cap money in the form of signing bonuses.

That said, Mayhew would not have publicly said anything about wanting to restructure Stafford's contract without having discussed it with him and his agent first, which tells me that Stafford is open to the idea of signing long-term. He pretty much said as much here:

Again, if I was going to restructure Dom's deal, I would talk to Dom about it first before I talked to you guys about it. When we make those decisions, we act on those things, and then we deal with the players and agents, and you guys find out after that.

So the very fact that we know Mayhew wants to extend him means that he has mentioned it to Stafford and Stafford said "yep, let's do it." It'll get done, I'm not worried about that. I'm just worried how much it's going to wind up costing us in the long run, and whether or not 2011 Stafford is the real Stafford._________________

MrDrew wrote:

I may have to find a taxidermist that will make me a koozie out of a squirrel in a kilt now.

Hate to say it but if I were stafford id probably wouldnt restructure either.. I would want to see whats going to happen.. mean shoot there is no OL atm. i know id be pretty scared about my well being.. But im sure alot of you will think different because we are not in his shoes. Change is just not happening since stafford got here. the staff/ Fo is just not getting it done...why should stafford have to continue to bail them out? what about Suh's crazy contract..

he has to look out for his future too. if i were him i couldn't think of any reason to want too. id ride my contract out.. go to a team that knows wth their doing. im embarras to even have to read about this crap being a Lions fan.. no way tho am i mad at stafford if he dont.

The only reason Stafford would not want an extension is if he hates it here and is intent on bailing after his contract is up. All he can do is guarantee himself more money--he is not taking a pay cut, although a new deal can lower his cap number because he has already received much of his allotted 2013 cap money in the form of signing bonuses.

That said, Mayhew would not have publicly said anything about wanting to restructure Stafford's contract without having discussed it with him and his agent first, which tells me that Stafford is open to the idea of signing long-term. He pretty much said as much here:

Again, if I was going to restructure Dom's deal, I would talk to Dom about it first before I talked to you guys about it. When we make those decisions, we act on those things, and then we deal with the players and agents, and you guys find out after that.

So the very fact that we know Mayhew wants to extend him means that he has mentioned it to Stafford and Stafford said "yep, let's do it." It'll get done, I'm not worried about that. I'm just worried how much it's going to wind up costing us in the long run, and whether or not 2011 Stafford is the real Stafford.

well ihope your right. but im not covinced it is the right move if i were in his shoes. im looking straight at the FO and how its not getting it done.. but im not gonna pretend i know what stafford is thinking, i just know how id feel.. but i hope your right.

Joe Flacco and the ridiculous contract he just signed will likely throw a wrench into any negotiations the Lions and Stafford have on going. Can't wait to see what Rodgers gets paid now when he re-ups.

Joe Flacco and the ridiculous contract he just signed will likely throw a wrench into any negotiations the Lions and Stafford have on going. Can't wait to see what Rodgers gets paid now when he re-ups.

I was thinking just the opposite. I would imagine Stafford's agent was probably waiting to see what Flacco would get from the Ravens before agreeing to any contract with the Lions.

This got me thinking, and I think we'll be fine if we push the money back a few years on an extension. The total NFL revenue is set to increase 1.2 billion dollars, or just above 12.5%, and that is only considering the TV deal. So, the cap should increase somewhere around 15 million dollars, and that's only including the TV deal increase. Also, in a few years (think 2015-2016), DirectTV needs to renew a contract with the NFL, which should bump it up some more. This is all under the belief that the cap fluctuates with the revenue, so if that's true, I can't see how this would be wrong._________________

Joe Flacco and the ridiculous contract he just signed will likely throw a wrench into any negotiations the Lions and Stafford have on going. Can't wait to see what Rodgers gets paid now when he re-ups.

I was thinking just the opposite. I would imagine Stafford's agent was probably waiting to see what Flacco would get from the Ravens before agreeing to any contract with the Lions.

I don't think that applies in this situation. If they were both entering FA and Joe Flacco didn't end the season the way he did and win the Super Bowl I may agree with you, though.

In regards to the points stylish brings up.. I never really put any thought into the Lions not getting a deal done with Stafford. But, it's basically worst case scenario if they can't... and if they can't then Stafford better take giant leaps forward or he looks like the bad guy in this situation._________________FFMD 2015: Detroit Lions AGM
Adopt-A-Lion: Calvin Johnson
Adopt-A-Lion: Stylish313

This got me thinking, and I think we'll be fine if we push the money back a few years on an extension. The total NFL revenue is set to increase 1.2 billion dollars, or just above 12.5%, and that is only considering the TV deal. So, the cap should increase somewhere around 15 million dollars, and that's only including the TV deal increase. Also, in a few years (think 2015-2016), DirectTV needs to renew a contract with the NFL, which should bump it up some more. This is all under the belief that the cap fluctuates with the revenue, so if that's true, I can't see how this would be wrong.

Its never wise to plan your future payroll on money that isn't yet guaranteed.

If a GM is that foolish he does so at his own peril. Any potential cap increase will bloat F/A $$$ if it comes to fruition._________________

This got me thinking, and I think we'll be fine if we push the money back a few years on an extension. The total NFL revenue is set to increase 1.2 billion dollars, or just above 12.5%, and that is only considering the TV deal. So, the cap should increase somewhere around 15 million dollars, and that's only including the TV deal increase. Also, in a few years (think 2015-2016), DirectTV needs to renew a contract with the NFL, which should bump it up some more. This is all under the belief that the cap fluctuates with the revenue, so if that's true, I can't see how this would be wrong.

Its never wise to plan your future payroll on money that isn't yet guaranteed.

If a GM is that foolish he does so at his own peril. Any potential cap increase will bloat F/A $$$ if it comes to fruition.